[2.12] A Non-Parametric Approach to Modeling Clusters of Galaxies

We present a new method for analyzing X-ray data from
clusters of galaxies. The method uses hundreds of X-ray
emitting plasma "blobs". Each blob is assigned its own
temperature, abundances, position, luminosity, and size. The
X-ray data for this complex model is generated by Monte
Carlo simulations for both XMM-Newton RGS and EPIC data.
Iterations of blob parameters are performed using Markov
chains and a complete set of statistical realizations that
are consistent with the observations are obtained. We apply
the method to RGS observations of Perseus and M87. This
approach demonstrates in a model-independent context the
failure of the cooling flow model and places detailed
spatially-resolved emission measure constraints on cooling
flow models. We also present EPIC results of Abell 1689
using this approach. We expect that these techniques will
lead to an easier comparison of X-ray results with those of
weak/strong lensing and SZ observations in future studies.